Dorothy Williams

Background

Dorothy Williams was tried and convicted under her birth name, Dorothy Williams. She was confined at the Dwight Correctional Center under sentence of death imposed on April 18, 1991 by the Circuit Court of Cook County in case number 89-20869 after conviction following a jury trial of murder and robbery (a jury was waived for sentencing). Her prison number was B21483. The presentence report reported that her Chicago “IR” number was 356618, her FBI number was 245 787 M7, and her Illinois SID was IL19971020.

Williams filed an application for relief under the Post-Conviction Hearing Act, which was remanded for an evidentiary hearing. The post-conviction matter was pending in the Circuit Court of Cook County.

The offence

Williams strangled 97-year-old Mary Harris on July 25, 1989 in her apartment. A stereo set was found to be missing.

Williams pleaded guilty to strangling Lonnie Laws in 1987 and stabbing Caesar Zurell in 1988, following which she was sentenced to natural life.

In the death penalty hearing, additional evidence included that Williams robbed other elderly persons. The People presented evidence that Williams robbed four other seniors in Mary Harris’ building or in surrounding senior buildings: Frederick Adamson on July 4, 1989, Clyde Simmons on July 1, 1989, and Martha Foster on April 4, 1989, and also that she victimized Jasper Irving on both April 4, 1989 and January 11, 1986.

The People stated that Williams systematically robbed and killed seniors on the South Side of Chicago over a three to four year period. They described elderly victims, ruses used to gain access, and that she was physically abusive while robbing them.

Victims

Mary Harris (victim): 97 years old. She resided in housing for senior citizens operated by the Chicago Housing Authority and lived in apartment 1204 of the Chicago Housing Authority Senior Building.

Marian Harris (victim’s daughter): Marian Harris testified about Mary Harris’ appearance and missing items after Mary’s death.

Lonnie Laws (victim): a felony murder victim pleaded to by Williams; the parties stipulated that he was five feet five inches tall and weighed 94 pounds.

Caesar Zurell (victim): a felony murder victim pleaded to by Williams; the parties stipulated that Caesar Zurell was five foot seven inches tall, weighed 120 pounds, and was sixty-four years old.

Jasper Irving (victim): 72 years old. He testified about being wheeled into the courtroom.

Hubert Carmichael (witness): resident of the same apartment building as Mary Harris.

Willie Shelby (witness): resident who left the victim’s apartment at about 6 p.m. on the evening of Mary’s death.

Frederick Adamson (victim): victim named in the evidence presented by the People.

Clyde Simmons (victim): victim named in the evidence presented by the People.

Martha Foster (victim): victim named in the evidence presented by the People.

Investigation

Police were summoned after Mary Harris was discovered dead in her apartment at about 8 p.m. Dresser drawers were open and in disarray and the closet was rummaged. Her body was lying on the bed with a “bandanna” around her neck knotted in front, and entry appeared not to have been forced.

A detective testified about recovery of a “Realistic clarinet number sixteen stereo system with two speakers” from Williams’ apartment on the afternoon of September 6, 1989. The detective recounted Williams’ statement that it was her property and that she had bought it “hot” as stolen merchandise about a month earlier from a black male whom she did not know and was unable to describe.

Expert testimony established that Williams’ fingerprints were found on objects inside Mary Harris’ apartment after her death. The medical examiner described a ligature around the neck: a pink “kerchief” knotted at the angle of the jaw and wrapped tightly around the neck. The victim’s hyoid bone had been fractured, indicating “really extreme pressure” had been applied to the neck. The cause of death was ligature strangulation. Both of the victim’s eyes were black and blue, a result, in the medical examiner’s opinion, of having been struck.

Detectives Patrick McDonald and Thomas Grady went to the victim’s apartment and discovered no sign of forced entry. They observed Mary Harris lying on her bed, both eyes blackened, and a pink scarf knotted around her neck.

Detectives also recovered evidence including fingerprint impressions from five items sent to the crime laboratory.

Arrest

On September 6, 1989, Officer Betty Woods approached Williams and her companion after Hubert Carmichael pointed out Williams. Williams identified herself as “Deborah” Williams and was accompanied by another woman, Michelle McBride.

Officer Woods transported the two to the Area One Detective Division. Williams initially stated she had not been in the 4030 Lake Park building in years and that she did not know the victim. Williams signed a consent to search form.

At the police station, Officer Woods left Williams and McBride unattended in the middle of a large room. Officer Woods later departed from the police station and had no further involvement.

Later, at about 8:30 p.m., police formally arrested Williams for the murder of Harris.

During the motion to suppress proceedings, the trial court expressly found that at the moment Williams responded that the material discovered in her apartment was “hot” and that she had so purchased it, probable cause existed to take her into custody.

Williams contended on appeal that she was under arrest when she was taken to the police station and interrogated over a twenty-four hour period; the Illinois Supreme Court rejected that contention.

Trial

A jury convicted Williams of first degree murder and robbery. Williams waived a jury for sentencing. The circuit court denied her post-trial motion for a new trial or, in the alternative, a judgment non obstante veredicto.

Guilt phase

The Illinois Supreme Court recited that evidence included Williams’ statement to police on September 7, 1989 read to the jury. In the statement, Williams said she had strangled Harris and had taken a “component set” from the victim’s apartment.

Williams described entering Harris’ apartment on July 25, 1989 and talking with Harris for about 10 minutes. Harris asked Williams to go to the store and gave her $2. As Williams received the money, Harris turned around and Williams grabbed her from the back, putting her arms around Harris’ stomach and trying to stop her from talking. Williams stated she did so to “[g]et the component set” to sell for drugs. Harris was telling Williams in a loud voice to let her go. When Harris began to scratch Williams, Williams grabbed a “rag” Harris wore around her head and tried to put it over Harris’ mouth “[s]oshe wouldn’t scream.”

Williams described the rag around Harris’ neck for “[a]bout a half aminute or a minute.” When Harris fainted and began to fall, Williams threw her on the bed. Williams said that as Harris started to fall, Harris was saying, “[O]h,” and when Williams threw her on the bed, she stopped speaking. Williams said that after throwing Harris down, she “grabbed the component set and * * * left out.”

The Illinois Supreme Court described other evidence, including Marian Harris’ testimony about Mary Harris wearing a pink scarf and missing items after her death, including a small Realistic Clarinet 16 stereo set. Marian Harris identified the stereo at the police station on the morning of September 7, 1989.

Hubert Carmichael testified that at about 6:30 p.m. on July 25, 1989 he saw Williams leaving the building alone carrying a large box. Carmichael identified her as dressed in what appeared to him to be a white nurse’s uniform. He also testified that on September 6, 1989 her hair color had been changed to red and she was wearing glasses.

Willie Shelby testified about leaving the victim’s apartment at about 6 p.m. on the evening of her death.

A detective testified about drawers and closet in disarray and the body lying on the bed with a bandanna around the neck. Detective Schmidt testified about recovery of the stereo from Williams’ apartment and Williams’ statement about buying it “hot” from an unknown black male.

Expert testimony established Williams’ fingerprints were found on objects inside Harris’ apartment after her death. The victim’s body findings supported ligature strangulation.

The Illinois Supreme Court stated that Williams did not testify.

Sentencing phase

The circuit court found Williams eligible for the death penalty because she committed murder in the course of another felony—robbery—pursuant to section 9-1(b)(6). After considering aggravating and mitigating factors, the court found no mitigating factors sufficient to preclude imposition of the death sentence and sentenced Williams to death.

During the death penalty hearing, the Supreme Court quoted and described evidence that to gain entrance to apartments of elderly victims Williams used ruses including pretense the resident knew or was related to her, and deception that Williams had come to aid the resident, and that Williams was often physically abusive of these elderly persons whom she robbed.

Williams made statements admitted during sentencing. The State introduced statements in which Williams admitted strangling Lonnie Laws with his belt on December 5, 1987 and stabbing Caesar Zuell during the first weeks of December 1988.

Testimony described the felony murder cases already pleaded guilty to and sentenced to natural life by Honorable Judge James Heyda.

The circuit court made specific sentencing findings quoted by the People, including findings about brutal beating and Williams’ scheme to prey on elderly and infirmed victims who could least afford it and were most vulnerable, as well as Williams taking “terrible advantage” of them in a cruel way.

Batson and voir dire

Williams raised multiple issues on appeal, including claims related to suppression of her statement, fairness of the hearing on suppression, improper excusal of prospective juror Esther Smith, and a Batson v. Kentucky claim.

The Illinois Supreme Court addressed the Batson issue involving prospective juror Alvin Pettigrew and held that the circuit court did not err in finding the State articulated legitimate, race-neutral reasons for exercising a peremptory challenge to exclude him.

Sentencing

On April 18, 1991, Judge Shelvin Singer sentenced Dorothy Williams to death in case No. 89CR-20869.

The People and the Illinois Supreme Court described that, following the sentencing hearing, Williams’ eligibility for the death penalty was found based on robbery.

The People stated that Williams was sentenced to natural life in case numbers 89CR-20870 and 89CR-20871, and that she was sentenced to 7 years in the penitentiary for robbery in 89CR-3376.

Appeals

Williams’ conviction was affirmed on direct appeal: People v. Williams, 164 Ill.2d 1 (1994).

Her application for relief under the Post-Conviction Hearing Act was remanded for an evidentiary hearing: People v. Williams, No. 88663 (June 20, 2002).

The People also cited post-conviction rulings including an August 20, 1999 decision by Judge Shelvin Singer.

The Illinois Supreme Court decision was delivered by Harrison, with the opinion delivered on September 22, 1994, and it affirmed the circuit court’s judgment.

Outcome

Williams remained under a sentence of death imposed April 18, 1991.

In 2003, Gov. George Ryan commuted the death sentences of all condemned inmates in Illinois to life in prison without parole.

Aftermath

Williams later entered additional guilty pleas to other charges and was serving multiple sentences for other offenses that the People described as victimizing elderly persons.

The People stated that after Williams’ death sentence, her daughter Cherika Williams pleaded guilty to an aggravated battery to an 80-year-old Nathaniel Crenshaw in case 92CR-17216. In her statement to the police, Cherika stated that she had been introduced to Crenshaw by her mother and that she was attempting to take money from him when she cut him with a knife.

The People also stated that, in a clemency context, they opposed Dorothy Williams’ request for commutation and requested a full and complete hearing in opposition to executive clemency.

Other details

Williams gave conflicting names to police, claiming to be “Deborah” Williams during police contact on September 6, 1989, and the Supreme Court described the police interviews and procedure leading up to her statements.

Victim apartment details and missing items (Mary Harris)

Mary Harris spent five hours of her last day on earth with her daughter Marian Harris at Mary’s apartment at 4030 South Lake Park in Chicago. Marian Harris left Mary at 2:30 p.m., and Mary was wearing a pink scarf around her head. At 8 p.m., elderly friends found her door ajar and discovered Mary dead with a kerchief around her neck. The police summoned the daughter.

Marian Harris testified that after her mother’s death a small Realistic Clarinet 16 stereo set she had purchased was missing, and on the morning of September 7, 1989 she identified a stereo set at the police station as the one she had purchased.

Details from witnesses and police

Hubert Carmichael testified that he saw Williams leaving the building alone carrying a box large enough to hold the missing stereo set, and that she was dressed in what appeared to him to be a white nurse’s uniform. Carmichael testified that on September 6, 1989 Williams’ hair color had been changed to red and she was wearing glasses.

A detective testified that dresser drawers were open and in disarray and the closet was open. Her body was lying on the bed with a bandanna around her neck knotted in front. Entry appeared not to have been forced.

Detective Schmidt testified concerning recovery of the stereo system from Williams’ apartment and Williams’ statement that she had bought it “hot” from an unknown black male about a month earlier.

Statements and trial evidence (Mary Harris)

The Supreme Court described Williams’ statement to police made on September 7, 1989 before a court reporter that Williams had strangled Harris and taken a “component set” from the victim’s apartment. The statement included the quoted phrases: “[g]et the component set,” “[s]oshe wouldn’t scream,” “[a]bout a half aminute or a minute,” and “grabbed the component set and * * * left out.”

Marian Harris testified about missing items including one of three large boxes and a lightweight sheer print bedspread, and about identifying the stereo at the police station.

Motion to suppress (overview of findings)

The Illinois Supreme Court held that the undisputed evidence did not support Williams’ contention that she was under arrest when Officer Woods took her to the police station, and it affirmed denial of the motion to suppress.

The Supreme Court stated that a custodial situation cannot be created merely by the giving of Miranda warnings and relied on the reasoning that detectives spoke briefly with Williams, she was not handcuffed, and the door to the large room was open. The Supreme Court also described that procedures such as booking and fingerprinting normally associated with arrest had not been performed until after Williams made the statement about buying the stereo as stolen property.

Voir dire and juror issues (overview and quotes)

The Illinois Supreme Court described the State’s request to excuse prospective juror Esther Smith for failure to acknowledge she was under supervision for a marijuana case and for having “perjured herself.”

The Supreme Court described a question asked to jurors: “Other than what you may have already told me, have you ever been a party to or otherwise particularly interested in the outcome of a criminal case? If you have please indicate by raising your hand.”

The Supreme Court also described the colloquy for Batson purposes involving prospective juror Alvin Pettigrew. Assistant State’s Attorney Levin stated: “I don't believe that they've made a prima facie case by making one challenge of one black person. The other people we've challenged have been white. They have challenged a black person themselves.” The court responded: “That's true, but I believe they have-” Assistant State’s Attorney Levin said: “Judge, the reason why we're knocking him off, number one, is the first time that he kept his hat on the whole time and-He kept his hat on the whole time he was in the courtroom until Your Honor-” The court said: “It's my fault.” Assistant State’s Attorney Levin further stated: “The deputy sheriffs in this courtroom has [sic] a practice of telling everybody to take their hats off and we, number one, say that that shows disrespect of thecourt system. Number two, when you asked him he was not answering questions with full sentences. You asked him how long have you worked at your job. He said 29. You had to pull from the teeth 29 years. He does not know where his own children are working or what they are doing. All the people we accepted did. We don't feel this is a person who would pay attention to the-with respect to the court or that he in fact pays attention to his own children, so we think there is a lack of attention that will be paid to this case and this is why we are in fact knocking him off, and we are taking exception to even giving you our reasons.”

Defense counsel Pantle stated: “Judge, his answers have been very responsive. They've been prompt. They've been responsive to Your Honor's questions. You didn't have to pull anything out of him. There was another woman that wasn't sure where her-I believe it was where her daughter worked, that the State accepted. Mr. Pettigrew was going bald. He might have some sensitivity to that fact and that's why he kept his hat on and-” Assistant State’s Attorney Levin responded: “We don't know that.” Pantle said: “We don't know that the sheriffs told him to take their hats [sic] off either, Judge.” Assistant State’s Attorney Levin stated: “There's a sign on the court room door, Judge.” The court said: “I'm taking into consideration the following factors-” Assistant State’s Attorney Levin said: “Judge, the victim is also black in this case.” The court said: “I'm taking into consideration the following factors. This is the first challenge State has made of a person who is black-defense made a challenge of a person who was black. Why there hasn't been anymore black people on the venire I don't understand. I've never seen venire with less black people. He did have his hat on and his answers were short, somewhat cryptic. And I will also point out that from what I know the case [sic] the alleged victim is black as well. I'm going to find that-I'm going to find that the State did make their case and I will accept their [peremptory] challenge.”

Criminal history and other sentences

After conviction in this case, Williams pleaded guilty to other charges and was serving the following sentences:

• 89 CR 20871, Armed Robbery, 30 year sentence
• 89 CR 3376, Robbery, 7 years
• 89 CR 20870, Robbery, 7 years
• 89 CR 20871, Murder, Life
• 89 CR 20870, Murder, Life

Lonnie Laws details (as described in the People’s clemency narrative and later decision)

For the murder of 79-year-old Lonnie Laws, a police officer was dispatched to 4218 South Cottage Grove, apartment 710 and found Lonnie Laws motionless on the floor. Two articles of clothing were wrapped in a gag-like fashion around Mr. Laws’ face and a belt was wrapped tightly around his neck. The apartment was in disarray with drawers open and contents strewn. There was no sign of forced entry.

Williams gave a court-reported confession to Assistant State’s Attorney Jacobs. Williams stated she had sex with Mr. Laws, who was intoxicated and “wild.” Williams stated that when she asked for money, Mr. Laws told her she would have to come back for it. Williams stated she went through Mr. Laws’ drawers and when he cut her with a knife, she got angry and grabbed Mr. Laws. She stated she gagged him with a belt hanging around his neck, asked for money, and when he did not give money she tightened the belt around his neck and pushed Mr. Laws down. Williams stated she took money from Mr. Laws’ robe and left. The parties agreed Williams’ fingerprint was recovered from the exterior door of Mr. Laws’ apartment.

The autopsy was described as showing that Mr. Laws was gagged with a pajama top tied in the back of the neck, with a belt around his neck. His internal examination revealed multiple areas of hemorrhaging in the neck, throat, esophagus and tongue and a fracture of the thyroid cartilage. The autopsy determined that Lonnie Laws died of ligature strangulation. His blood alcohol level was well below the legal definition of intoxication.

Caesar Zuell details (as described in the People’s clemency narrative and later decision)

For the murder of Caesar Zuell, on December 6, 1988 an officer was summoned to apartment 813 at the senior building at 740 East 43rd Street, and the officer observed the decomposed body. The fire department was called and air tanks were requested due to the stench. The parties stipulated that a latent fingerprint impression from a whiskey bottle was found and that Williams’ palmprint was found on that bottle.

The parties stipulated that Caesar Zuell’s autopsy showed skin slippage and discoloration indicating decomposition. Caesar Zuell died from three stabs wounds to the chest and a lacerated lung.

Assistant State’s Attorney Gabriel DeMatteo testified he took a court-reported statement from Williams on September 8, 1989. Williams told him that in December of 1988 she got a call from Caesar Zuell asking her to have sex with him for fifty dollars. After purchasing a pint of whiskey, she went to his. Williams stated he did not want to pay and she wrestled with him trying to go into his pockets. Williams stated that Caesar Zuell told her to leave brandishing a pocket-type knife, and that Williams grabbed his wrist and pushed the knife into his chest. Williams stated she reached into his pocket, took eighty seven dollars, and left, claiming Caesar Zuell was still standing when she took the money.

Jasper Irving details (as described in the People’s clemency narrative and later decision)

Jasper Irving testified that he suffered from cancer of the vocal chords and had been using a walker for fifteen or twenty years. On January 11, 1986, Mr. Irving was living at the senior citizen building at 4949 South Cottage Grove. The defendant knocked on his door and stated she wanted some beer. Mr. Irving put two dollars on the table. The defendant stated it was not enough, grabbed the money off the table, and fled. Mr. Irving called former neighbors to ask defendant’s name and then called the police. One week later Mr. Irving identified the defendant for the police. The defendant was arrested, released on bond, and never appeared in court.

On April 4, 1989, Mr. Irving was in his apartment at 4949 South Cottage Grove when someone knocked and told him there was a gas leak. Mr. Irving cracked open the door and saw the defendant. The defendant forced her way in, knocked him to the floor, beat him in the head with a stick, and put her foot in his face. The defendant retrieved a dishtowel, tied it around Mr. Irving’s throat, tightened the towel, and dragged him to the front of the apartment while saying: “I don't know what I'm going to do with you.” Mr. Irving told defendant where his two hundred and sixty dollars hidden was located, and she released him. The defendant took the money and Mr. Irving’s key and left. Mr. Irving called the police and identified her from a group of photographs. Two years later defendant was apprehended and Mr. Irving went to court and identified defendant. Mr. Irving testified that his skull was fractured as the result of the beating.

The People stated that at the time of her arrest for Mary Harris’ murder, Williams had an outstanding bond forfeiture warrant for the second robbery of Mr. Irving. The People stated that after Williams’ sentence of death she pleaded guilty to that robbery in Case No. 89CR-3376 and was sentenced to 7 years in the penitentiary by Judge Heyda.

Other alleged prior acts and records (as described in the People’s clemency narrative and later decision)

The People stated that Williams robbed Frederick Adamson on July 4, 1989 and Clyde Simmons on July 1, 1989 and Martha Foster on April 4, 1989. The People also stated that Williams’ July 4, 1989 robbery of Adamson was the third time she had victimized him, and that during the first robbery she squeezed his tongue and pulled it. The People stated that during the Simmons robbery she twisted his genitals and threatened to pull off his penis if he did not give her money.

The People stated that Williams was arrested for trespassing in the senior citizen building at 400 East 41st Street and that her attempt to enter a senior’s apartment by ruse was thwarted. The People stated she had dyed her hair red and claimed her identity was her deceased sister Peggy Williams when arrested and questioned by police.

The People stated that in October of 1973 Williams hit Emma Lipsey with a 18 square inch wooden milk crate, knocking out two of her lower teeth. The People stated that on May 30, 1973 Williams kicked and stuck a police officer 10 to 12 times in the face and chest after he arrested her for creating a disturbance using loud, profane, and vulgar language in a crowd of about 50 that had gathered in response to a street fight between two other persons. The People stated that she was convicted and fined for resisting arrest. The People also stated that on March 10, 1975 Williams was convicted of delivery and possession of marijuana and was sentenced to 18 months misdemeanor probation and fined $200.

While Williams was incarcerated pending trial, the People stated she verbally abused and threatened a female correctional officer. In mitigation, the People stated that while pending trial Williams had no disciplinary violation other than the November 23, 1989 offense.

Post-conviction and clemency allegations (Atkins and mental capacity)

Williams claimed her death sentence should be commuted in light of Atkins v. Virginia because she allegedly was mentally retarded. The People argued that no case for mental retardation had been established regarding her and described testimony that Williams’ IQ test scores ranged from 59 to 73 and that Dr. Edward Blumstein characterized her as a malingerer and a faker.

The People described testimony from Dr. Mathew Markos and Dr. Blumstein that Williams was malingering and that Williams was fit for post-conviction proceedings and fit for trial in 1991.

The People stated that Judge Shelvin Singer ruled on August 20, 1999 that petitioner had a basic formal education, was able to read, and had a “crafty intelligence above that of a normal person’s.” The People also cited Judge Singer’s statement that “there was overwhelming competent evidence from the record of the trial court proceedings which reveals convincingly that petitioner was not illiterate and did not have impairment of her intellect.”

The People described an unsigned, unsworn “affidavit” made allegedly by Williams’ brother John claiming she could not read and that she did not attend high school. The People stated that John did not testify at the death penalty hearing and that his affidavit was said to refute her mother’s testimony and contradict the information given to the probation officer.

The People also described clinical evaluations involving malingering, MRI/EKG/CAT-scan findings showing no evidence of hemorrhage, hematoma, or lesions to the brain, and stated that Williams reported memory problems but could recall specific details about psychiatric treatment and medication substitution when transferred between Dwight penitentiary and Cook County Jail. The People quoted Dr. Markos’s concern about the discrepancy between memory problems and psychiatric sequela picture “which was not established in the first place,” and quoted Dr. Markos’s concern that “individual who had no memory for basic personal details was able to spontaneously color a picture of psychiatric sequela secondary to head injury which was not established in the first place.”

The People quoted Dr. Markos’s description of his discrepancy in opinions, stating: “back in 1995 based on the information that was made available to me...I rendered an opinion. But it so happened that Miss Williams was malingering. And when I reexamined her in 1997, the data was overwhelming. The clinical information and findings clearly indicated a diagnosis of malingering and led me to make a finding of fitness.”

The People quoted Dr. Blumstein on faking, stating: “(T)his is an individual who is attempting to portray her intellectual functioning at a much lower level that it really is, but at the same time that she’s doing that is unable to actually recall exactly how she performed the time before. So you’re going to have fluctuations that are occurring way beyond chance. In other words, if this were an individual who were truly brain damaged (defendant claimed in her post-conviction petition that her alleged mental deficiencies were caused by an accident which resulted in brain damage. She has been unable to substantiate these allegations.), you pretty much see a flat line. You know, you’d get two, three, possibly four point discrepancies. But not ten points…(S)he’s malingering.”

Judge Singer’s sentencing findings were quoted by the People as follows:

“I do believe that Mary Harris was brutally beaten before she was killed, indeed beaten around the head, the eyes, the face….Furthermore, I do believe that the defendant developed and executed a scheme to prey on the elderly and the infirmed, to rob these people, these people who could least afford it, and these people who are most vulnerable. They are obviously easy victims because they are elderly and infirmed, and they usually live alone, extreme difficulty getting to could, should the defendant be arrested, and once in court, because of the variety of physical conditions and the like, as witnessed, they are not as articulate as would other people bee—or other people be as witnesses. Miss Williams took terrible advantage of these people in a most cruel—in a most cruel way.”